US Zone Champs: 25 Meet Records Set at Western Zones

By Josh Jeffrey

TEMPE, Arizona, August 21. CENTRAL California's Madison Goodvin was the big winner at the Western Zone Championships held August 5-9 at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center on the campus of Arizona State University.

10 & Under
Goodvin set a Zone record in the 50 breast (37.34) in addition to winning the 100 breast (1:22.22) and 50 fly (32.75). Arizona's Lauren Baker won the 50 (36.43) and 100 back (1:16.66), while So Cal's Noelle Tarazona won the 100 fly (1:12.91) and 200 IM (2:45.00).

For the boys, So Cal's Bob Hwang was most prolific winner, taking five events: the 50 (29.91), 100 (1:04.66), 200 (2:19.68) frees, 100 fly (1:10.55) and 200 IM (2:38.13).

11-12
So Cal's Mattea Perrotta swept the freestyles taking four freestyle titles: the 50 (28.05), 100 (1:00.47), 200 (2:11.06) and 400 meters (4:39.38), while Arizona's Caitlin Leverentz also won four gold. Leverentz was the class of the field in the 50 (35.51) and 100 (1:15.88) breaststrokes, in addition to the 50 fly (29.82) and 200 IM (2:29.82).

Pacific Northwest's Clinton Stipek took four titles for the boys, sweeping the 50 (26.13), 100 (58.11), 200 (2:06.89) and 400 (4:31.35) meter freestyles. Arizona's Richard Schleicher won the 50 (29.93) and 100 (1:04.81) backstrokes, in addition to taking the 50 fly (28.53). Hawaii's Kekoa Taparra notched a Zone record in taking the 50 breast with a time of 33.10.

13-14
Karlee Bispo of Pacific Coast swam to a new Zone record in the 100 free, winning in 58.43, also a US Open standard. She also assisted her Pacific Coast team of Sierra Burton, Dorothy Isaacs, and Jennifer Lamb to a new Zone record in the 400 free relay (4:02.19). So Cal's Rachel Grant is the proud owner of three individual golds, swimming to titles in the 200 free (2:11.33), 200 fly (2:22.46), and 400 IM (5:07.08).

Teammate Samantha Vander Berge did the same, taking a trifecta in the distance events, seizing control of the 400 (4:29.86), 800 (9:15.93) and 1500 (17:44.51) frees. Grant and Vander Berge teamed up with Sara Sun and Ann Tsuchiya to propel So Cal to a new Zone record in the 200 free relay (1:50.81).

Aaron Casey was the top swimmer for the boys, winning the 100 back (1:01.73), 400 free (4:11.59) and 400 IM (4:46.30) before seizing a new Zone record in the 200 back with a winning time of 2:10.72. Oregon's Logan Storie notched three freestyle wins, taking the 200 (2:00.68), 800 (8:38.48), and 1500 (16:26.90).

15-16
No Zone records here for the girls, but the most impressive performance came from Sierra Nevada's Margaret Doolittle, who in addition to winning the 100 free (58.97), also seized the 50 free with a US Open standard of 27.27. The only other double winners were So Cal swimmer Marissa Joseph, who won the 200 (2:08.96) and 400 (4:29.53) frees, and Oregon's Brittney Iverson, who took the 800 (9:19.30) and 1500 (17:51.80).

One of the meet's top performances came at the hands of So Cal's Scott Weltz, who took the 100 breast (1:07.48), 200 IM (2:10.14), and 400 IM (4:38.91), all three in Zone record time, and the 200 IM achieved a US Open qualifying standard in the process.

Hawaii's Randall Tom took three titles, hitting the pads first in the 50 (24.71) and 100 (54.20) free before seizing control of the 100 fly to win in 56.80, a new Zone record and US Open standard. Pacific Coast's Danny Donnelly also notched a Zone record in winning the 100 back with a time of 1:00.20. So Cal's Cedric Cheung-Lau, also notched three wins, winning the 800 (8:41.26) and 1500 (16:40.94), as well as the 200 fly (2:09.38).

17-18
So Cal's Tanya Nielsen got things started early, breaking the Zone record in the preliminaries of the 50 free (27.42), and winning the event at night, albeit in a slower time. Nielsen also propelled her relay team of Erin Craft, Angela Samuel, and Hillary Hughes to new Zone records in both the 200 (1:52.42) and 400 (4:06.37) free relay.

The top swimmer in this division though was Sierra Nevada's Erica Robbins, who won five titles in all, swimming to wins in the 400 (4:32.91), 800 free (9:22.40) and 400 IM (5:07.50) before taking both the 200 breast (2:42.01) and 200 IM (2:25.16) in new Zone records. Adriana Quirke of Oregon took three: the 100 (1:00.18) and 200 free (2:09.52) in addition to the 100 back (1:08.40). Teammate Haley Koss broke a Zone record in winning the 100 fly (1:04.81).

Despite the accomplishments of Robbins, Quirke, and Koss, top performance honors go to Pacific Coast's Jessica Buchanan, whose winning time of 1:13.85 in the 100 breast was not only a Zone record, but also a new US Open time standard.

For the boys, wins were pretty evenly distributed, with no swimmer taking more than two individual titles, but there were a number of outstanding performances. Pacific Coast's Kyle Leto took the distance double, winning the 800 in a new Zone record time of 8:40.57, as well as the 1500 (16:53.99). So Cal's Ben Falcioni won the 200 (2:13.06) and 400 (4:40.43) IMs, the latter resulting in a new Zone record.

Pacific Coast's Justin Pollard, winner of the 100 and 200 flys in 57.92 and 2:09.59 respectively, propelled three relays to new Zone records. Teaming with Aram Yoo, Felix Niko, and Matthieu Martin, he swam to wins in the 200 (1:50.75) and 400 (4:04.98) medley relays, while combining with Yoo, Martin, and David Dunn to win the 200 free relay (1:39.32).

The single most impressive boys' performance in this category, however, may have come from So Cal swimmer Paul Divan, whose 1:06.46 win in the 100 breaststroke was good enough for both a Zone record, as well as a US Open qualifying standard.

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